Today we’d like to introduce you to Seena Hodges.
Seena, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My name is Seena Hodges, and I am the founder and CEO of a company called The Woke Coach® where we move our clients From Ally to Accomplice®. I am an African American female entrepreneur. I was called to the work of diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) and leadership development because of my personal why– to provide closure for my ancestors. It’s for the people not just in my lifetime, but for seven generations ahead who deserve to live in a more just world.
As a kid, my first words were “I do it.” — an early indicator of my independence and sense of personal responsibility. So whether my shoes were on the wrong feet, my shirt was inside out, or my hair wasn’t quite right, I had done it myself. Those words were my mantra and how I engaged with the world around me.
As an adult, I still have that same sense of personal responsibility and willingness to do things. But I also couple that with the understanding that nothing changes in the world unless we all contribute to it. Now, I wholly understand that in order to effectively make change, I have to be willing to listen, understand the processes and ways of being in order to update or change systems. And, ways of being don’t include or serve us all equitably. It’s what I’ve learned and what I seek to teach my clients every day.
I’ve worked in the space of DEI since 1998. After graduating from Columbia College with a Bachelor’s degree in English and Communication Arts, I began my career at the Columbia Urban League in South Carolina, a non-profit organization committed to issues of social justice. I was there for the fight to remove the Confederate Flag at the top of the State House dome. In partnership with the NAACP, we marshaled in 45,000 Confederate flag opponents to march on the Statehouse on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2000. Despite a 40-year-long fight to remove the symbol of hate, it took the murder of nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina by a white supremacist in 2015 for the flag to come down. Witnessing injustice and fighting for the removal of this symbol of hate and my desire to help folks understand their personal responsibility fuels my work. We must be relentless in our push for accountability and specific in our asks of policymakers, leaders, and communities.
Prior to starting The Woke Coach, I received a Master’s Degree from Columbia University in Theater Management & Producing. I spent the better part of the 2000s working on Broadway and at the Theater Development Fund to increase diversity in theater audiences. I spent time producing and serving as the marketing director for shows that I was passionate about. I also worked in public relations for Broadway and Off-Broadway productions and made it my mission to make sure we consistently had publications and journalists of color to review shows at opening night. During my tenure, we both increased coverage among primarily Black and Brown writers, in turn, increasing diversity in the audience.
I started my business back in 2018 because I have a fervent belief that racial equity is a defining issue of our time. One of the things that we know about injustice is that once we witness it, we can’t unsee it. So then the question inherently becomes “what are you going to do about it?” I have had the opportunity to speak with people about issues related to equity, diversity, inclusion, antiracism, bias–you name it. And no matter what folks say during the course of the conversation, they always end with the same words: “But I don’t know where to start.”
Before I started The Woke Coach, I worked in marketing and communications. I have an MFA from Columbia University in Theater Management and Producing. I worked on Broadway as a publicist for Broadway and off-Broadway shows. I’ve also worked at regional and non profit theaters across the country including the Guthrie Theater, Mixed Blood Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and Pillsbury House Theatre. Even now, through my work at The Woke Coach I have a great number of clients who are performing art organizations.
I moved to Minnesota from New York City to take a job at the Guthrie Theater, and it was there that I became introduced to the artistic landscape of the state of Minnesota. As a lover of arts, in all of its many forms, I wholeheartedly believe in the arts and artistic endeavors as a balm to sensitive souls that can help us better understand each other.
My experience in the philanthropic and arts sector as a communications manager and marketing director prepared me for the work of building strong teams. I was most recently Associate Vice President of Strategy and Communications at The Saint Paul & Minnesota Community Foundation. An avid supporter of the arts, I was recently elected as President of the Board of Trustees at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota–I am the first person of color to hold the distinction. I am also a member of the Black Trustee Alliance for Art Museums (BTA), an organization created to increase the inclusion of Black perspectives and narratives in North American art museums.
As a leader in the community, I am a member of The Women’s Presidents’ Organization (WPO), a non-profit organization for women presidents, CEOs, and managing directors of privately held companies; and Minnesota Women’s Economic Roundtable, a forum for women business leaders to gather insights on broad economic issues; examine their implications; and take action in their communities and lives.
I am currently publishing a book, From Ally to Accomplice: How to Lead as a Fierce Antiracist, set to be released in 2023. The book is based on my company’s proven method of coaching with resources, reflection questions, and case studies to help leaders take action on their anti-racist journey.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I don’t believe that any road is ever always smooth. It’s inevitable that there will be bumps and potholes and pauses for construction along the way.
I think it can be challenging to start a business. Having an idea doesn’t translate immediately into finances and support for your dream. The challenges that I have experienced are just figuring out how to create a path when there were no breadcrumbs.
I never set out to be an entrepreneur, but I always knew that in whatever work role I found myself in I was always dreaming above my station, so to speak. I believe that I was born to lead people and make positive changes in the world. Whenever you decide to lead, there will inevitably be moments of fear, trepidation, and uncertainty. I’ve had my share of self-doubt and being overly critical, and wondering if I made the right choice to move into the role of entrepreneur, but at the end of the day, any bad day is overwhelmingly overshadowed by the positive impact I’ve been able to make with people all over the world.
We’ve been impressed with The Woke Coach, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
At The Woke Coach, our flagship program is called From Ally To Accomplice. We take this program into businesses and organizations and work with leadership teams and managers and individual contributors alike. Our goal is to help companies reform and refine their organizational cultures. We also work with individuals across the country through our From Ally To Accomplice® — The Community, an online program.
Our programming is designed for leaders committed to authentic personal and professional cultural competency, leadership development, and creating inclusive workplaces. We work with organizations as a strategic partner to design a journey based on a team’s needs to help them achieve long-term goals.
Our team has helped thousands transform their organizations across industries such as retail, tech, finance, law, creative services, education, arts, and the nonprofit sector. In order to achieve the end result of helping people become the best, most empathetic version of themselves around the issues that can sometimes be the most challenging, we help people who are on a journey or people who seek to begin a journey filled with encouragement, support, personal reflection, and motivation.
Because of our wildly successful client interactions, I have just written my first book—From Ally to Accomplice: How to Lead as a Fierce Antiracist. The book will be published in February 2023. It’s important for me to share what I’ve learned along the way. I have noticed that conversations about race, equity, inclusion, and belonging can be difficult conversations to have, but I also know that if we don’t have these conversations, we are never going to solve the challenges that plague us. It is my hope that this book provides leaders, managers and individuals with an opportunity to challenge themselves to do the work necessary to create a more equitable and just society.
How do you define success?
I define success as your absolute best–whatever that is. I believe that whatever you undertake or engage in it is your obligation to complete it to the best of your ability. I also think success means that you were bringing people along. There is an old African proverb that says, “if you want to go fast go alone, but if you want to go far go together.” So as I do the work every day, I’m trying to help people be the best version of themselves and really become more self-aware and truly understand their own level of personal responsibility as it relates to changing the world that we live in and making it more inclusive. It is essential that people understand that the journey is a long and difficult one that must be undertaken together.
For me, success can always be measured by my response to the question: Would this (action, idea, decision, partnership) make my ancestors proud? If I can answer that in the affirmative and the work was done with a spirit of joy, then that’s success to me.
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